


Pests in the Lair

by Poneshyay



Category: Viva Piñata
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28960974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poneshyay/pseuds/Poneshyay
Summary: Professor Pester made himself some kids and their here to ruin every scheme, whether they mean to or not.
Kudos: 8





	1. A Day of Pests

What a fine day for evil! The sky was cloudy, the weather not too hot and not too cold, and most of all, the cannonata was on the fritz. Normally, the evil mastermind would have jumped on this chance, but alas his life was never simple. Pester had the perfect plan. He had thought of everything, right down to the last second! It was absolutely flawless! Or so he thought. 

"Oh come ON!" A shrill voice screeched from the next room, quickly followed by a loud crash.  _ "PEPPER, PUT THE DAMN NET DOWN AND USE YOUR HANDS!" _

"But-But, my ha-!" Another voice, another crash. 

"OH SCREW THIS, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" Three more crashes.

"DON'T YOU START DESTROYING THINGS TOO,  _ PEST _ !" 

Pester threw his hat on the floor before kicking the door open. His eyes nearly popped out his mask when he saw the mess. Potted plants knocked over, windows broken, furniture tipped, paintings shredded, and rugs ripped. His oldest daughter was brandishing a broom and trying to knock his middle child off an up turned table while his youngest was being dragged by her leg across the floor by a sour Macaroon. Great, the Trio had gotten out. 

A few years back, Pester perfected his sour recipe. In the brief second it had taken him to try and write it down, three sour Macaroons had broken into his lab and devoured all of it. Months of work, gone in seconds with a lifetime to pay. The piñatas were wild, much too wild for him to contain and command. Locking them up did nothing but fuel their desires to escape, and when they did there was Hell to pay. That had led to his first cloning attempt.

Poppy was made purely to try and contain the Trio. A little henchman to worship him blindly and help carry out his dastardly deeds. It hadn't taken much to make her really. His DNA, a Cluckle feather, 12 carefully chosen chemicals, a drop of ink, and whatever had been in that jar a ruffian had poured in. Maybe that's where things went wrong. She couldn't control the Trio, she didn't worship him, and she didn't want to be evil. A garden. All she wanted to do was garden, and plant flowers like she saw those pesky little piñatas do. Pester usually just tossed her a sack of weed seeds and told her to plant them in the piñatas garden and she'd be so excited just to plant something. That was about the only thing she was good at. Poppy was an awful gardener, anything else she tried to plant died within hours. At least weeds had a use. So caught up in her awful dreams and not in his schemes, Pester was eager to send her away to that evil school he'd been reading about. 

_ "Madame Henches Academy for Evil Girls."  _ A perfect place to try and bring out the wickedness in her heart. He'd booted her there almost immediately after he read the advertisement. Every letter Pester got from Poppy talked about how miserable the school was, and how she wished to come home. About how she missed the island, and her old garden (which he didn't even know existed). Eventually he stopped opening them, and eventually she stopped sending them. 

Pester would admit, the lair felt a lot emptier with only the ruffians and sours for company. At least Poppy could hold a pretty decent conversation and weigh in on things from time to time. The most he could get from these nitwits were half assed grunts and a bite or two. Nobody around to help with his schemes or round up the Trio. No one to even spread so much as a single weed seed. By the time he finally opened the letters, she'd stopped sending them. The only one he got after that, was the one foretelling her return home. A week later, Pop came.

She'd barely stepped a foot in the door before gagging at the sight of the lair. "This place looks gross."

Poppy's hair had grown, that was the first thing Pester noticed as the girl dropped her backpack to the floor. Her green hair used to stop just at her shoulders, but now it hung down to the middle of her back. Poppy never used to like it that long, always whining about how the ruffians would pull it. She caught him staring and scowled. She had never done that before. Pester rubbed his hands together, that was a sign of improvement.

"Ew don't do that, why are you doing that?" She folded her arms over her chest. Her arms weren't as lanky as before, and she proudly wore the markings of a ruffian on them. He'd tried to get those done sooner, but one look at the needle and she'd faint. "Why are you staring at me? Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Poppy, welc-!" Pester started to walk to her, arms open wide for a hug. He was cut off by the girl holding up her right hand. She glared at him, then focused on her manicure as she walked, no,  _ flounced _ past him. Her nails were pretty long, and painted a bright green to match her eyes. He remembered she used to bite them down to nothing, constantly having to bandage them when she bit too much. They didn't look like they'd been bitten in a long time. They almost looked like claws.

"Pop."

"Wha-?" He lowered his arms as she moved by.

"I go by Pop now. Poppy is just, so, you know,  _ unsweet _ ." She lowered her hand as she looked around the room. This place was more disgusting than she remembered. Leaking pipes, tacky decorations, stupid pictures. The only good thing in this room was a mirror, and that's only because she was in it at the moment. "This place looks gross, I can see why you'd need sanitizer."

"Gross? You used to love the lair!" Pester moved to touch her, only for the girl to snap at his hand. Her teeth missed his finger by millimeters. She stood up straight and flicked her hair. "Poppy-"

"POP." She stomped her foot as she leaned into his space. "I go by  _ POP _ now, geez, what part of that don't you  _ understand _ ? I never liked this place, you just wouldn't let me leave!" Pop backed away and flicked her hair again, this time intentionally hitting the man in the face. She smirked as he spat out a hair. "I'm going out, don't wait up."

"Out? But you just got back!" Pester followed after her, nearly tripping over her maroon bag. He picked it up and tried to keep up with the departing girl. He could have sworn it had been pink when she'd left. Closer inspection revealed that it was painted rather poorly, the paint already chipping to reveal its original color. "Pop!"

"Yeah, and I'm leaving again, that's literally what I said. What part of that doesn't make sense to you,  _ old man _ ?" She got back into his face, daring him to try and say anything. Surely he wasn't stupid enough to take the bait.

"OLD MAN?"

_ He took it. _

"THAT IS IT." Pester grabbed her arm, seemingly surprising both of them. He started to drag her back inside, shoving the backpack into her other arm. "You are grounded young LA-!" He was on his back, on the other side of her. The grip on her arm obsolete, but the grip on his arm very present. She had flipped him over like he was no more than a doll. 

"I think we're done here." Pop let him go. Pester let her go. He watched in pain as she walked down the mountain, until he lost sight of her. What was supposed to improve her made her even more of a lost cause it seemed. While more evil, Poppy was definitely not worshipping or cooperating. His entire body ached for hours until she came home.

"What do you have?" Pester asked from his arm chair as she walked by with a small sack. At first she'd glared at him, then her face softened into a sick sort of innocence. 

"Oh, I just found some pretty rocks by a tree." She opened the cloth bag and poured 10 gems onto the floor. She kicked a red one to Pester, raising an eyebrow when it hit the leg of his chair. 

Pester bent down to pick it up. He inspected it between two fingers, and slowly a smile grew on his face. Maybe she wasn't such a lost cause after all.

~~~~

Pop was definitely a lost cause. He watched as she began poking Pest in the side with the broom until the boy fell. Then she moved to strike him only to be intercepted by another member of the Trio. While Poppy fought the Macaroon for the broom, Pest began to destroy a couch pillow.

Pest, his only son and the middle child. Not long after Poppy's return, Pester had made a second attempt at cloning. His DNA, A cluckle feather, a dragonache scale, 24 chemicals, 2 drops of ink, and half a bottle of perfume added by Pop. In the 10 minutes he spent scolding her for ruining his creation, Pest had almost completely destroyed the lab. The boy was in the curtains, on his desk, and about everyone at once. He was only wrangled in when Poppy threw the rest of her perfume at him. The boy laid there gagging while Pester grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Did you…..Make that?" Pop pointed at the boy, who now clung to Pester like a koala. The self proclaimed professor tried to pull him off with no success. 

"And you interfered!" Pester pointed an accusing finger at her with one hand while trying to pry the boy off with the other. "He's a PEST!"

"Pest!" Pest let go suddenly, and Pester dropped him back into the pot. 

"It STANK like RASHBERRY in here!" Pop snapped back. "Who knows, maybe I improved your stupid recipe, maybe you should be  _ thanking _ me."

"THANK YOU?"

"YOUR WELCOME!" 

"NO, I WAS NOT THANKING YOU!"

Pest watched the two fight with a smile on his face. He liked these new people, they sure seemed exciting! However, they failed to notice the little creature crawling into the room through the opened door. He tugged at Pester to point at it, only for his hand to be slapped away. The boy watched as the creature hid under a desk chair, the one he'd knocked over not that long ago. 

"OH, SO YOU JUST MAGICALLY STEAL TEETH FRO-!" Pop stopped as a sour Macaroon began screeching nearby. She covered her ears and glared at the little boy who was now hugging the piñata as tight as he could. "Oh great, it caught…..Matthew?"

"OH, SO NOW YOU CAN TELL THEM APART." Pester shot back. He put his fingers in the shape of an L on his forehead before approaching the boy. The piñata didn't seem to be happy about any of this, and was voicing this very loudly. It jerked left and right until Pester jammed a sour candy down its throat to shut it up. That seemed to temporarily do the trick. "Toss it down the chute."

"Pest!" The boy dropped the sour, and it scurried away quickly. Pest began to dance, his arms in the air as Pop chased the sour piñata out the door. 

Within an hour Pester had the boy trained to do two tasks decently enough. Fetch him items, and annoy Pop. The worshipping came randomly and he lived for it. The only real problem was Pests' habit of destroying things, whether on purpose or by accident was up to interpretation. The second Pester took his eyes off of him, the boy had the brain cells and personality of a ruffian in a garden. Oddly enough though, the actual ruffians seemed to reject him. They would startle him, or threaten him if all else failed. The boy still came back though, with a Cheshire smile on his face as the ruffians got aggravated by his presence once again. 

The ruffians weren't the only ones aggravated by his presence. Sure Pest upset Pop, and more often than not Pester, but the residents of Piñata Island were not spared from the boy's chaotic nature. At first he seemed innocent enough, just coming into gardens and investigating things. Slowly he began stealing things, or breaking items and hiding them. That slowly turned into vandalism, bringing in sour piñatas and letting them run wild in the villagers gardens. Things reached a head when he actually began attacking piñatas himself. This boy, believed to be better, was just a sour. Soon, even Pester couldn't reel him in fast enough. The only one able to get through to him fast enough was Pepper. 

Pepper, the last child, wasn't made on purpose, that much Pester knew. Was it the 24 chemicals or the 2 drops of ink, or even the half a bottle of perfume added by Poppy, that made the little girl? Nobody seemed to notice her hiding while Pest wrangled in the macaroon, and they seemed to just ignore her while they went about their new daily routines. Pester spent an hour building a machine before uncovering her hiding spot, and even then he didn't seem to notice her. Pepper was fine with that, she was okay with being overlooked. Everyone in this place seemed so loud, and angry. She had witnessed the older girl filing her nails into spikes to scratch lines in the wall with. By the time they realized she was there, Pest had already broken a chair.

"Greeeat, we got two of them….Just what we need." Poppy mumbled as she sharpened her pinkie into a point. "That is  _ so  _ unsweet."

Pester lifted Pepper by the back of her dress, and she squeaked. Smaller than Pest, and shakier. She was more obedient though, and the Professor appreciated that. Anything he said, she was quick to do it for the most part. Willing to be a part of any scheme. Willing to follow the plan till the end, even if things fell wayward. Still, she lacked a certain something. He watched her sometimes, moments before she disappeared to who knew where. It didn't matter, he was sure it was something heinous, it had to be. The ultimate crime, why else would she be gone for hours and come home dirty.

  
  


~~~~~~

"Daddy." 

Pester had grown used to the little girl calling him that. Dare he say it made his sour heart sweeten a bit? Pest called him father, and Poppy had taken to calling him 'Dude' or 'Prof', so hearing daddy was rather pleasant. He put down his screwdriver and turned around. The masked man crouched down to her level. "This had better be important. I was in the middle of something."

"I-I guess….I guess it could wait. I….um...I'm sorry, I uh." Pepper rocked back on her heels. In the next room she could hear Pest and Pepper arguing over something. Maybe she should go break that up, she started to turn away but Pester grabbed the back of her cardigan. He knew it was either now or never with this one, and he'd like to save himself the trouble of having to squat down three more times today. "I uh, I did something and I want you to see it."

That was new. Pepper tended to keep to herself. It was one of the few things that made her his favorite. No drama with that child, just unmatched obedience and her ability to boost his ego. Seen, but not heard. Not seen, and not heard. Not to mention her bond with one of his more unstable sours. He could only imagine the awful things she could do during her time away from the lair. A trap that beat piñatas to dust to salvage their candy? A fake amusement park ride that drained them of their sweets? A giant fly swatter to smack them out of the sky and into his lair? 

Pepper took his hand and began walking, and Pester followed. When the other two realized they were leaving, they followed as well. Followed Pepper down the wooden walkway that wrapped around their home. Trekked along the edge of the island, avoiding the canonata. Crossed the beach and went around the village. All the way to the jungle to a hidden path marked by stone. Not a fancy stone, not even a decent stone. The path was made from a stone formed by a neglected garden. It was hideous to look at, but not completely out of place for the area. This was almost a wasteland of Pesters failed schemes. Catapults and broken ovens, damaged cages, and crates in pieces, the former stone head of the lair was a rather prominent piece of the landscape. Was this his daughter's lair? He had to hand it to her, the decorations were top notch. 

Poppy was oddly quiet, especially considering that not too long ago she had been complaining about her aching feet. About how the walking was going to ruin her shoes, and how sticks were getting caught in her hair. At the sight of the head, she almost looked sickly. Her father mistook it for jealousy, jealousy that she was being shown up by a child. He looked rather smug as he followed Pepper down the path.

"Holy Marzipan…." Pest mumbled in awe as the group reached the end of the path. 

Flowers! Flowers as far as he could see! Poppies, Daisies, Buttercups! Sunflowers, Snowdrops, and even Roses! Ponds with Water Lily and Watercress, accented with Bullrush. At the center was a Monkey Nut tree, with ribbons tied to its massive branches. A sour Mallowolf laid in the trees shadow sound asleep. Excited, Pest took off running, not caring what he trampled as he did. The sound woke up the wolf, who immediately began to chase after him. 

Poppy slowly walked along the path of the garden. Her heart skipped a beat at every new flower. She especially liked the closed off area for weeds, a nice touch in her opinion.. She gently plucked a flower head off a thistle and inspected it. The Mallowolf knocked into her, shoving her into the wooden fence, but for once she was quiet. Poppy remembered her own time here, even if it had been scarce and unyielding. Maybe there had been life in this old earth, but she was too blind to see it. Her old garden, once a barren place, was full of life. The girl looked over at Pepper and Pester. 

The man was silent. Almost dangerously so. His expression grim as his green eyes slowly surveyed the terrain. A sour Smorepion crawled along the path holding a leaf in one claw. A sour Cocoadile floated up to the surface of a pond, the piñata visibly calm as it began paddling it's way to the shore. Come to think of it, that was the calmest Pester had ever seen a sour. Usually they would cause a ruckus in a garden, he'd watched them do it countless times before. Why was this one so special, what was Peppers plan for all this? To ruin this poor piñatas hard work? To unleash his creations havoc upon it with a snap of her fingers? To bring its utter destruction and despair? 

"Daddy, do you like it?" Pepper tugged at her father's hand as she held a daisy out to him. She was smiling proudly, so pleased with her work. "Daddy, look!"

Pester took the flower, but just stared at Pepper. He had to fix this, he had to do something. He briefly thought about sending her to the Academy, but he'd seen first hand what that had done to Poppy. All this time he thought, he believed, he'd  _ hoped _ she was being the cruel child we wanted. No, she was doing what Poppy could never do. Pepper had planted a garden, she had planted and maintained something besides weeds, and then added those as well. Were it any other situation, the cruel irony of it would have made him laugh.

"Hey, what are y-POPPY STOP IT!" Pest screamed.

Pepper's head jerked towards her older sister, and her eyes widened. She barely took a step towards her before the Smorepion stabbed her ankle. Pepper cried out in pain as the sour scurried off, visibly upset over nearly being stepped on. 

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Poppy yanked open the gate and began upsetting the weeds with the fence post she'd yanked up. The thistle she had so delicately picked, laid mangled under her foot. Seeds began falling to the ground and she picked them up and began flinging them wildly. " _ IT'S NOT FAIR!" _ The older girl began to whack at nearby flowers, grinding them beneath her foot and beating at them maliciously with her newfound weapon. "I COULDN'T GROW  _ ANYTHING  _ HERE!" 

"POP!" Pepper stumbled to try and stop her. Pester grabbed the back of her cardigan and pulled her back. If she demanded to know why, he'd claim it was for her safety. That would be a lie. "POPPY,  _ POPPY PLEASE STOP! _ " 

"I GOT SENT AWAY FOR WANTING A GARDEN, BUT SHE GETS TO HAVE ONE!  _ MY OLD ONE _ ?" Pop began hitting at the Monkey Nut tree, causing fruit to fall and with it a sour Bonboon who had been hidden in its branches. The Pinata, angered by the sudden awakening, went to spark drama with the Mallowolf. The Mallowolf ran off to fight the Cocoadile. Their fight cost the garden the chunk of flowers that Poppy had not yet destroyed. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!" 

Pester had taken the younger kids home, practically dragging Pepper. The girl was completely distraught, and had even taken off her cardigan to try and run back to stop Poppy. Pester wound up carrying her the rest of the way home. Pepper did not speak to him for weeks, and Poppy for months. He restricted the youngest child to the lair, to prevent her from going back to her once peaceful sanctuary. In life there were lessons that everyone must learn. 

To let go was one of them.

~~~~

"LET GO, LET GO, LET GO!" Pepper was dragged behind the overturned couch by the Macaroon. The third Macaroon was furiously devouring her scrunchie, and the other one going between breaking Poppy's broom and running from Pest. 

Pester closed the door again. Today was the perfect day for evil. He did not need his kids' help.


	2. To Be A Distraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Pop needs a way out the lair, its up to Pepper to be a distraction.

"Just keep him busy for me, it's not that hard." Poppy tugged on her other shoe, not even bothering to untie the laces to help speed up the process. The girl stood up and dusted dirt off the back of her skirt. "You're good at it, its the  _ one  _ thing you  _ are good _ at."

Pepper looked down at her feet, biting her lip. Poppy tapped her foot impatiently while Pepper tried to avoid looking at her. She really didn't want to be a part of this. Poppy had been grounded, but now she wanted out. She wanted to get out this stupid lair and do anything, do it anywhere but here. Pester had been rather on top of keeping her in, and while normally she'd be impressed, it annoyed the ever living hell out of her. He'd make some cheesy remark and send her back to her room. Now it was personal, Poppy wanted to rub her newfound freedom in his face by coming back with the shiniest item she could find. By sneaking out and having fun while he thought she was sleeping. 

Pepper was good at distracting their father. Dare she say she was the best. One look at her and he'd lose focus on his task, usually just for a moment, but she'd have his attention if she spoke. If she asked for it. If she made eye contact especially. If she wasn't already busy, he'd find something for her to do. Keep Pest busy, or sit on his desk and hold some items. Go put Pop in a good mood so she was more willing to cooperate with him. Of course, that's only when he was running the show. When Pepper had to distract him, she really had to latch on. Make herself the controller. 

".....H-How should I do it?" Slowly turning to look at her sister, Pepper touched her index fingers together. Poppy was already smiling that Cheshire smile as she clapped her hands together. She already had the perfect plan in mind….

~~

The lair never had a mudroom. 

No, that was an incorrect statement. The lair had a mudroom, but it was converted to a front room sometime in the last three years. The lair had never had a  _ Mud  _ room before, until Pest got into Pesters private downstairs bathroom. Then he flooded it. Pester wasn't sure where the dirt and plants had come from, but Willy Builder wouldn't come help him so now he had a  _ Mud  _ room. Room wasn't quite the word for it. A Limeoceros had thrown a fit and crashed a hole into the back, almost making it a patio, but not quite. Sours were free to come and roam as they pleased, and during the rainy season it flooded the area into a sort of shore that gave way into the moat.

That room housed some of his sours. Not many though. At least 2 Crowlas tolerated it, the 4 Profitamoles liked it, the lone Limeoceros enjoyed it, and the Cocoadiles  _ loved  _ it. The reptilian pinatas would spend their time lounging in the water and napping in the wet dirt. As long as they were in there, nobody had to worry unless they wanted to attempt to swim in some dirty water. The ruffians had to worry.

Pepper slowly made her way to the mud room, wringing her hands and glancing around for any signs of her father. The coast was clear, so she entered the room. Poppy had told her to see if Ling Limeoceros was in here and try to annoy him into destroying the wall. Pester would come to investigate and Pepper would feign innocence. Sure, this plan had worked once before, but what if this time it didn't? What if he caught in and got upset at her? What if everything went wrong? Pepper shook her hands in an effort to calm her nerves, closing her eyes before shaking her head wildly as well. Her ponytail hit her in the face, and she opened her eyes just in time to see Caine bite her cardigan.

Caine Cocoadile, the smallest of the Cocoadiles and the only one who didn't understand that biting Pepper was a no no for two reasons. The first one being that when she was frightened, she had one of the shrillest screams within the lair, just under Pop. The second and frankly the most dangerous, was that Mallow would come running if he heard her screaming. Caine regretted every life decision he had ever made the second she opened her mouth and let out that unholy shriek. 

"LETGOLETGOLETGO!" Pepper began tugging at her cardigan, but the sour refused to release. Instead it spun and knocked her over as it started hurrying to the water. "NONONONONONO!"

Poppy grinned as she heard the screaming. Her plan was working! Not sure why she didn't hear anything being destroyed, but Pepper probably knew what was best. She crawled out the doggy door just as Mallow ran past on his way to the mud room. If her calculations were correct, and they usually were, Pester would be headed to the screams source shortly. She wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but Pepper's new plan was probably decent enough to work. Her instructions had been very clear, and Pepper was very good at following instructions. Flipping her hair, Poppy began walking down the mountain, a smug smile on her face.

Pepper was half way into the mud now. She had tried to dig her heels in and stop from being dragged in, but the sour wasn't even phased by it. It was barely a hindrance as it started to drag her feet into the dirty water. Even in her panic, the child could see the green of larger pinatas eyes in the water nearby. She tried again to take the sweater off, but the way it was caught in the teeth made that impossible. She'd give her grandmother credit, the clothing was very durable and hadn't torn, but that just added to the problem. 

"HEEEEEEEL-!" There was a large splash in the water that cut her off. Pepper whipped her head around as the brown water hit her. She slowly turned around and opened her eyes in time to see Mallow and the Cocoadile fighting. Her beloved Mallowolf was winning it seemed, but only because Caine wouldn't let her go. As they moved into deeper water, it became increasingly obvious what the plan was. Pepper tried to hold onto the Mallowolf as Caine started to go underwater. There was no way for Mallow to swim under there, his paper fur wasn't made for that. The wolf tried to pull her free, latching onto her sleeve and tugging. Caine had the upper hand, and slowly Pepper was submerged. 

Underwater was quiet, very quiet. The kind of quiet that left an echo in your ear. She couldn't see much, especially not in the struggle, but she saw the green. All the green. Green of eyes as the sour Cocoadile came to see the commotion. They couldn't quite make out what the commotion was, but surely that meant it was feeding time, right? Either way, a treat was a treat. Pepper began thrashing as Caine started to gain the upperhand, going deeper into the water. Mallow, desperate to regain his grip, bit down into the child's arm in an effort to keep her. Pepper screamed, letting out the precious air she so desperately needed. From behind the thick curtain of bubbles that made, she saw a Cocoadile swimming right at her wide mouth ajar. Teeth, all those pointed jagged teeth. 

Pepper closed her eyes tight as something yanked her out the water from under her arms. She began choking for air, precious air, sputtering and coughing up the murky water until she started throwing it up. Mallow swatted away one of the few Cocoadiles who dared to swim close, snapping at it and jumping back when it tried to return the favor. 

"What on EARTH were you doing in here?" Pester held his daughter out at arms length, grimacing when she began to spit up water. He marched out the water and to solid ground before slinging her over his shoulder and patting her back a few times. He'd been reading in his 'study' when he had heard someone scream. While it didn’t take much to make the girl scream, Pester still went to investigate out of a gut feeling. He didn't know what he expected when he entered the Mud room, but it definitely wasn't to see his little girl almost completely submerged while two sours duked it out. It seemed he got there in the nick of time to, otherwise he wouldn't have had much to grab. No response from the child, but there was a pretty decent amount of blood coming from her arm. Another mouthful of water left her stomach as he pat her back. "That's not good…."

Pepper began crying harder as she released another round of water. This time, a bit came out her nose. She kept coughing up more as her father started walking out the room, still hitting her back repeatedly. Mallow tried to comfort her by putting his nose in her hand, but it did nothing but let water get spat out on his head. He walked behind the duo slowly.

The walk to Patch's clinic was quick. Pester ignored the pinatas noisemaking and lollygagging as he carried Pepper wrapped in a towel. The villain even walked past a Shellybean without so much as a second thought. Only when the door of the clinic closed behind him did Pester stop. 

"H-Hello, We-Wel-elcome to my-!" Patch came out from the back putting fresh gloves on. He had heard the bell that alerted him of any guests to his shop, the only thing that saved him from people coming in and screaming for him just to heal their pinatas. One of the newer gardeners, a girl called V, had come in 20 times yesterday to get her pinatas healed. He hated to imagine hearing her shouting for him 20 times. So the bell was a godsend, and he revered it for its service. However, this may be one of the few times he wished for a scream, some kind of other warning. There, standing on the other side of the counter holding a soggy little girl was the infamous Professor Pester. "HI?"

Pester wordlessly placed Pepper on the counter. The girl was conscious, but she wasn't speaking. Her eyes darted around wildly before staring at the man in a monkey costume. Then came another mouthful of water, smaller than the rest at least. Pester got a tissue from the box on the counter and wiped her mouth as Pepper slowly looked down at the counter. Soaked all the way through, she was making a puddle around her. Patch just stared at the water now dripping off the counter and onto his wooden floor. He slowly moved the trash can under where a majority of it fell. "I-I can handle this!" 

Pester agreed to wait behind the clinic. Patch knew his presence would ward off other people who needed his assistance, and Lester knew that Patch was probably the person best equipped for this job. He knew of that quack Quackberry, and the strange witch doctor says of the Bonboon, but he also knew their success rates. They were bigger scam artists than him, the only difference was that they could sell their act consistently. If it had been Pest or Poppy in that situation, he'd have done it himself. Since it was Pepper though, the professor decided that Patch would have to do for now. 

Behind the clinic wasn't terribly awful, aside from the nearby dumpster, there wasn't really a bad side to this. Perhaps even worked out for both of them. Pepper got treated, and Patch didn't lose business with his presence. A Helper walked by on the dirt path and stared at him. When he made eye contact, the Waterling screamed and ran back to Arfurs. 

"Whoops!" Patch was startled by a sudden shout outside, and as a result he dropped his needle. The shout also startled Pepper, who began crying again. She'd stopped coughing up water, and the doctor was able to confirm that it was out of her system. Still, he would have to look further into that after he stitched up her arm. The second she saw the needle, she started crying harder. "H-Hey, H-Hey it doesn't hurt that-that bad!" He quickly touched her leg. "It'll be over r-real quick, four at most!"

Pepper didn't respond to any of that, instead covering her eyes with her hands. He couldn't work with her like that. Patch slowly pulled his hands away and held them up. He sat like that for a little bit, waiting until she peeked out before moving again. He hoped she couldn't tell how bad he was shaking right now, the worst thing to happen was for a patient to see how scared their doctor was. 

"H-Hey now, I'm only here to help!" The doctor smiled at her. He slowly lowered his left hand to gently hold her injured right. "H-How about we do it together? W-We have to clean this, c-can you help me do that?"

Pepper started to move her arm away but slowly nodded, leaving her arm there. That was an easy task, she could help with that at least. Though, the girl was pretty sure he was the medical professional here. Was this even allowed? Well, the doctor was already opening up a wet wipe so he was probably in the right. Besides, her arm was pretty filthy, covered in blood and mud. Her father had tried to keep the area as clean as possible, but his efforts hadn't been perfect. 

"H-Hold your arm very still for me….." Patch almost mumbled as he leaned in. Pepper frowned and shook her head. That wasn't helping. "Here, put your other hand on mine. We can do it t-together." 

Pepper put her hand on his, her tiny fingers grabbing on as much of his blue mitt as possible. Slowly, the doctor pressed the alcohol wipe to the bite. Almost immediately she began to squirm, but he clenched his teeth and kept a firm grip as he began cleaning it. Pepper tried to jerk away, but Patchingo knew that he wouldn't get far without at least  _ cleaning  _ it. As soon as it was done he let the child fuss at him. He knew this one wasn't notoriously violent, especially not without her Mallowolf, but she was very squeaky. Patch tried not to laugh as the child squeaked at him rather harshly. The smile left his face very quickly when she moved to lick her freshly sterilized wound. 

"N-No!" Patch caught the side of her face with his hand and prevented her from turning it enough to lick. "W-We'll have to c-clean it again!"

"No!" Pepper started to pull her sleeve back down, but the doctor prevented that as well. She kicked the needle to the floor, and Patch felt all his knowledge fly out the window. How was he supposed to operate under these conditions? 

"........W-W-What's your name?" Patch used his hand to cover the wound as he moved to get a fresh needle. That took a lot of maneuvering, but he just barely managed it. The doctor genuinely didn't know much of the professor's children. He knew they caused trouble in gardens and events from time to time, but not much more than that. Pester hadn't even told him what happened to lead her here, just that she got bit by a sour and he'd pay him to help her. Patch wasn't one to turn away a patient and the girl definitely needed help, so why not? 

".......Pepper….." 

"Hi Pepper, do you know who I am?" Patch started to get another wipe. Yes he'd, they'd, just cleaned it up but he didn't want to take chances. They, no he, had just touched it even with his gloves. Better safe than sorry. 

"The blue doctor." She mumbled, already trying to pull away again. Patch let her go, and Pepper started to get down. He didn't allow that, he instead held her in place by pushing her back gently with one hand. "Patch."

"D-Do you know what I do?"

"You make the pinatas better…..You come save them." Pepper nodded. "You keep the scary man away….. make sure that he doesn't hurt them."

"What scary man?" Patch already knew the answer. He knew the answer very well.

"...........Das…...Dastardos."

Patch nearly gagged at the name. He hated that man. He hated that man more than he hated anyone else. Always singing that stupid song and mocking him when he didn't arrive in time. Always leaving the gardeners to mourn over the loss of their beloved pinatas. Always making him out to be bad when gardeners couldn't afford his prices, even when they were cheaper than they should have been. Dastardos, Bastardos, the bane of his existence. Patch swallowed the hatred down so hard it hurt as he began cleaning the wound again. This time, the child didn't fight back. 

"D-D-D-Do y-you know w-why your father brought you h-h-here?" Patch reached for the needle again. He half expected her to smack it to the floor again. 

"You made Mallow better before." Pepper started to get tense, but relaxed as she spoke. She didn't seem to care about the question he just asked, she was almost answering her own. "Y-You gave him medicine when he was sick…..That's not the reason why he brought me, but…." Her voice trailed off.

"A-And I'm gonna make you better too!" Patch threaded the needle. Now came the hardest part. Patch put the needle near her skin. "I just need y-! H-Hello? HELLO?"

Pepper had fainted on his table. Patch shook his head and decided to take the opportunity to finish up this visit. He had her stitched up, bandaged, and fully examined within an hour. By the time Pester had her again, she was already starting to regain consciousness. Patch was prescribing an ointment to help with the stitches when Pepper lifted her head. Both men stopped and looked down at her. 

".........My arm hurts."

"Yes, you got stitches." Pester looked back at Patch. "As you were saying?"

"U-U-Uh, t-twice per da-!"

"My arm looks weird."

"It's bandaged." Pester showed her. "Twice per day, anything for pain?"

"Joy Candy may have the best eff-!"

"That man stabbed me." Pepper pointed at Patch.

Pester lowered her hand and adjusted her so she couldn't see Patch. "Joy Candy is hard to come by, would two pieces of happy work?"

"I-I suppose, I m-may have some lying aroun-!"

"Mallow bit me…..Caine bit me….." Pepper opened her mouth to bite on the bandage.

"Quiet down." Pester blocked her mouth with his arm. "How much do I owe you, doctor?"

"This….Thi-This ones- on the house!" Patch shook his hands dismissively as V came in with a sick Pienna. She tripped over her shoelace when she noticed Pester standing there. "Have a nice d-d-d-day professor!"

Pepper didn't remember falling back asleep. She didn't even remember waking up in the first place. Everything felt like a fever dream right now, even waking up properly. Her head hurt a bit, and her throat felt awful. She had been taken out of her clothes and put in her pajamas, which felt oddly comforting after the day she'd had. Her skin smelled of cheap blueberries, all except for her arm which stank of medicine. Pepper moved her arm as far from herself as possible, which wasn't really far. It landed on the page of a book, and was quickly moved. 

"Awake already?" Pester marked his page in his book as the child began to stir. He had been sitting in his beloved armchair reading. Not much else to do. Pest was watching TV, Poppy was sound asleep, Pepper was possibly unconscious on him, the Ruffians…..Well he didn't want to interact with the ruffians so they didn't count. Either way, there wasn't much to do. While it had been a bit tempting to put her into bed, the man wound up holding her while she rested. What was there to lose from it?

Pepper looked up at her father. He was holding her, that was surprisingly pleasant. It was okay, she liked being held. He was very warm, and she found his smell…….Okay the smell was not overly comforting, but it was better than the medicine. She pressed her ear to his chest while he tried to pull her away from him so they could talk. Upon realizing that she was not going to move, Pester groaned. He had made his own can of Whirlms, now he must lay in it. 

"Care to explain what you were doing earlier?" 

"......No."

"NO?"

"N-NO!"

Pester pulled her back, really putting his muscles to work this time. The child wound up on his legs, looking absolutely miserable. Her green eyes watering as she tried to move back, but he held her down with one hand.

"Explain."

"I promised not to tell!" Pepper protested. 

"Promised who what?"

"................."

"POPPY?" Pester stood up with Pepper on his hip. 

Two ruffians came in to investigate the shouting. Pester shoved past them as he stormed out the room. The ruffians followed. "POPPY?"

Pest turned off the TV and went to follow. He held onto Pesters leg. The man paused briefly to pick him up as well. The boy didn't even hesitate to start playing with the tassel of the professor's hat. Pest knew the severity of the situation when Pester didn't stop him. "POPPY?"

Poppy had one of the best rooms in the lair. It was pretty big, and it had a decent view of the island shore. She loved to lay in her bed and watch the waves until she fell asleep at night, and wake up to watch pinatas surf before the sun came up. Her nightstand was almost completely filled with magazines that she'd acquired one way or another, with the most recent tucked into her lamp. One of the only two rooms with a vanity, she kept it clean and orderly with sticky notes to remind her of whatever whimsy she had planned. Poppy was always organized like that, and Pester recalled the days when she made the whole lair like that too. As pristine as her room. 

When he kicked open her door, a few sticky notes blew from where they had been stuck. Before he could stop them, the ruffians devoured them. A lump on the bed flinched. "Poppy?"

No response from the lump. 

"You, go remove the blanket." Pester set the twins down and pushed a ruffian towards the bed. Gripping the red velvet throw, the creature yanked the blanket off the bed. A sour Bonboon was laying there, visibly upset by the intruders. Pester stood in front of the children while it left the room, accidentally stepping on Pest when the sour swatted at him. "Pesky Pinata……." Pester scanned around the room before picking up a bottle of perfume. He sprayed it, gave it a sniff, then tossed it across the room. "Oh  _ Ruffians~" _

The two Ruffians stood at attention. They stared up at him smiling, their wide mouth smiled. 

"I can't be quite sure  _ Pop _ isn't in here…..Give it a thorough search." He gestured to the room, an invitation to do what ruffians did best. 

"I want to help!" Pest began bouncing up and down, clapping his hands together. The boy grabbed a magazine from the nightstand and tore it in two. "See, I'm helping, I'm helping!"

"Such a good boy~" Pester pat the boys head before picking up Pepper. "You do play nice now, make sure to search as much as possible!"

Pester left the door open when he left. Pop sure would be surprised when she came home. Normally, he'd have just put her on Trio duty for sneaking out. Take the twins out with him, and leave Pop to fend for herself for a few hours. However, whatever little scheme she had come up with nearly cost him one of his children. Not just any child, his  _ favorite _ child. He could only imagine what awful threat Poppy had said to convince Pepper to partake in this. At least he knew when she got home, there'd be Hell to pay. He ducked as Batilda flew past him and into the bedroom. 

"My throat hurts….." Pepper closed her eyes as tight as she could at the sound of a particularly larger crash. She pushed her mask up and rubbed her eye before pulling it back down. "Daddy…."

"The doctor gave us medicine for that." Pester assured her as he made his way to the kitchen. 

\--

Pop came home later than expected. She had found the perfect garden for her to work with, and it had been empty of a pesky gardener! The garden was so….. _ Unsweet  _ with it's dark aesthetic, and lack of pinatas. The only thing there was a Pienna. Pop had had a field day decorating it. An old Elephinilla house she had found last week, a closed Doenut club, her best weed seeds for the perimeter, and a statue of a bear were only the starting pieces of her masterpiece. She had even been nice enough to order the gardener a Roario house, just in case they happened upon a Roario! The gardener had returned just as she finished, and had the audacity to try and be mad at her! Pop had given her the Ruffian special for that one! She sent her two ruffians to absolutely wreck her garden a bit. Fill in that stupid pond, trample some of her dumb flowers, make her ugly little Pienna sick. Maybe next time, she'd be a little more grateful when given help! 

Pop crept into the lair via doggy door. The lair almost seemed empty. She didn't even hear Pest and his tv show being as loud and annoying as possible. Pop shrugged it off, standing back up slowly. Pepper may be asleep, the old man always kept the house quiet when Pepper was asleep. Based on the scream she had heard earlier, the girl was probably passed out after a fake scare. Most likely on top of Pester, who would be in his armchair facing away from where she was headed. She wanted to stash at least half her claims for today in her bedroom before boasting a portion of it, just in case the greedy bastard decided to claim it.

She took off her boots and held them in her hand as she walked into the main room. The evil genius was sitting in his chair with her younger sister. The man was reading while the child laid against him with her eyes closed. Mallow laid on the floor wrapped around a pillow with two of the smaller wolves pressed against him. When he noticed her his head raised, then lowered slowly. All the while, his collars jangling softly. Pop hurried past. Pester took a sip of his tea. 

The second she entered the hall where her room was located, Pop knew something was off. For one her door was open. She ever left her door open, it was the one defense to keep sours and ruffians out. Her sanctuary was infiltrated it seemed, and the sight of a book being tossed across the room confirmed it. Her pace quickened as the book hit the floor. Her boots fell as she reached the doorway.

"WHAT THE FUDGE ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?" She banged her fist on the frame, eyes wide when she saw the mess. Her entire vanity was a smeared mess of makeup and sticky notes, the chair tipped over carelessly. Her dressers drawers were strewn around the room, its contents covering the floor like a new rug. Jewelry broken, magazines shredded, and her nightstand almost completely broken down. Her bed was being used by a trampoline by one Ruffian while Pest held a pillow with his teeth. The boy was shaking it rapidly in a fashion similar to a dog with a toy. The boy was shaking so hard that he wound up falling off the bed, laughing all the while. Batilda dive bombed Pop as she went to shove the ruffian off her bed. "GET OUT, GET OUT YOU WORTHLESS PILE OF SCUM-!" She took a Sherbat to the hair as the Ruffian bounced out of her reach.

Pester closed his book when the screeching started, the smallest of smiles on his face. Pepper opened her eyes as he stood up. Mallow followed the duo as they began to make their way to the disaster zone. By the time they reached their destination, Pop had lost a chunk of her hair to the Pinata. A Ruffian had started a game of Tug-of-War with the Sherbat by pulling on the girls arm while she tried to free her hair with her other hand. Both efforts were futile as they tugged her back and forth, despite her loud protests. The professor stood in the doorway laughing. 

"DON'T LAUGH AT ME, HELP ME YOU IDIOT!" Pop snapped at him. She let go of her hair to try and push the Ruffian off, but the second Ruffian grabbed the free hand and began pulling. 

Pester rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers. The Ruffians immediately let go and stood on the bed, their hands at their sides. The Sherbat was the only one left tugging, but within a few seconds she had it out her hair and on the floor. The sour let out a screech of pain when it hit the floor, and Pop was met with the 60lbs of anger that currently made up Pest. The boy began whaling on her until Pester went and pried him off. The Sherbat hacked a sour candy at her before flying off. Pop stared, no glared, at the trio standing before her. Pester held both twins in his arms, Pest actively clawing towards her trying to get one more hit at him. The man bounced the arm once and Pest settled down. 

"THEY TRASHED MY ROOM!" Poppy pointed a finger at Pest and the Ruffians. Right on cue, the nightstand collapsed off its final leg. "THEY DESTROYED EVERYTHING!"

"They were just looking for you, I asked them to be  _ very _ thorough. It seems they did a good job, they found you!" Pester moved both twins to one arm. He held up Pepper's arm. "I was wondering if you knew how on earth  _ this _ happened."

" _ I don't know what happened!" _ Pop's pitch raised as she spoke. She folded her arms over her chest. "I didn't do anything!" 

"I found your sister nearly drowned in the mud room." Pester pointed an accusatory finger at her. "She had to see Patch because a  _ promise  _ she made with  _ you _ ."

" _You squealed?_ " Her eyes landed on Pepper, how immediately buried her face in her hands. Pest wrapped his arms around his little sister protectively. He bared his teeth at her. " _You little Rashberry, you squealing little RASHBERRY._ _I'LL END YOU."_

Pester narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, leaning so he was between Pop and the twins. He straightened himself up, looming over the teen. Pop stepped back, refusing to break eye contact. Pester scowled as Mallow began to snarl from the hallway. This girl had crossed every single line he'd made, all in the frame of one day. She had truly activated an anger within him that knew no end, and he'd be well within the ground before she even  _ threatened _ to harm his children. When she backed down, he did the same. He carried the twins to the door. "Clean this up. You are on Trio duty, two weeks." He let the sour Sherbat and Ruffians out before taking his own leave.

Pop watched the door close behind them. She didn't let go of the breath she had been holding until she was positive they had left her hall. The Vanity finally gave way behind her, and collapsed. Pop fell to her knees. 

This was going to take forever to clean.

  
  
  
  



	3. Pepper and Dastardos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a late night ride on Mallow goes awry, Pepper has an unexpected meeting with Pinata Islands grim reaper.

Rain was normal on Pinata Island, it was a part of life that everyone agreed on. Humans and pinatas alike enjoyed the weather. Gardeners didn't have to water their plants, Pinatas got to play in it, shops usually weren't as busy, and the kids all enjoyed the mud puddles. There was a season where rain was just the status quo, everyday all day rain. There was rarely a month where it didn't rain at least once. 

Pepper never minded the rain. On rainy days, father would keep them in and pull out some old board games to keep them entertained. He'd let them read in the study while the drops hit the glass. Poppy would sometimes let Pepper in her room to watch the beach, the ocean full of rings as the water hit it. The Mud room was usually full of sours wanting to keep dry, and the moat full of Cocoadiles. Pest would curl up under the dead tree out there and read to the lounging sours until his voice got sore. The rain white noise as he stumbled over words. Pester would come out and correct him if time permitted, in between annoying the gardeners and emptying the buckets he used to catch water from the leaks in the lairs ceiling. The rain made the lair seem more peaceful. 

Storms however, were another story. Pinata island was notorious for having the worst storms should one occur. Hurri-candy-canes and Parfait storms were guaranteed to happen at least once a year. Thunder so loud it rattled the windows, and lightning so bright it lit up rooms. Rain so hard it flooded the ocean, and sky so black you couldn't see the stars. Pinata Central would refuse to send Pinatas to parties during those storms, and the Cannoñata would be closed. Those days, Pester would be more irrational than normal. He would often drag the kids with him during his attempts to capture pinatas, or send them out to do it for him when he couldn't be bothered to do it himself. The sour's weren't much better. Those who weren't scared of the storm, would be irritated by it. The Mud room was strictly off limits unless you wanted to get snapped at by an angry sour. To attempt to get close to the moat was to risk your life. Storms on Pinata island were the bane of any pinata's existence.

Pepper minded the storm, feared it even. The night had started out fine, just a gentle rain. She never minded the rain. Sneaking out in the rain was easier than any other night. She would wait until her father began to plot another scheme, usually after the twins were put to bed, and whistle softly for Mallow. The wolf would hop off the foot of her bed and sit beside it as she crept out. He'd let her on his stomach and walk to the Mud room, the ultimate disguise as he moved around the lair. Pester didn't even question the massive wolf's travels as he slunk through his lab. The journey would end in the Mud room, where Pepper would hop down and pat her pets head twice before approaching the shore. Dropping a Joy candy on the shore, Pepper would summon the largest Cocoadile, Caesar, to the surface. The Pinata would allow her on his back and would swim her to the other side of the moat. From there, Pepper would reunite with the Mallowolf who had found his own way out, and the duo would make their way to Peppers garden. 

It had taken some time to return her garden to its former glory, but she managed. Still, her messed up tree served as a constant reminder of Poppy's destruction. Pepper usually only spent a short time here, but the presence of a Horstachio in her sanctuary had her absolutely amazed. The Pinata had stayed for about half an hour before Mallow startled it into leaving. She had chided her companion while fixing what the guest had misplaced. That's when the rain began to pick up. Pepper had been foolish enough to ignore it. The winds began to pick up, blowing the ribbons in the tree's branches wildly. Pepper ignored that. Then came the thunder. She couldn't ignore that. 

"Mallow!" Pepper called over the howling winds. She could barely see her pinata through the storm. It wasn't until he was directly in front of her that she was able to see him. "Home, take me home!"

Mallow bowed down so she could climb onto his back. Once she was secure, he began running. Pepper held on tightly to his red and black paper, struggling to squint through the rain to see where they were. She dared to release one hand to wipe water off her face, but quickly latched on again when she realized that wasn't very smart. It was hard enough to stay on with two hands, one would be next to impossible. The pinata was turning with no warning, jerking her left and right erratically. He couldn't tell where he was going, the only landmarks he could remember too far to be seen. Smell, smell should be the best option. Even over the musk of rain, he could smell that for sure. He tilted his head to get a whiff of something, and stumbled over something in the dark. Both the girl and Pinata fell. Pepper let out a cry as her left arm hit the ground. Mallow laid a few feet away, whimpering.

"M-Mallow, oh no…." Pepper crawled over to him, putting all her weight on the uninjured arm as she dragged herself over. She ignored the rocks and sticks scraping her body as she moved closer to her pet. The large pinata was softly licking one of his paws, she could hear that even among the storm. A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the area and Pepper was able to see Mallows disfigured paw. It was bent the wrong way. "Nononono….." She stood up and looked around frantically. "Shhhh...It's gonna be okay….Mallow shhh…."

The large pinata slowly stood up. He held the paw up and took a few steps before stopping suddenly. His ears suddenly shot straight up. 

"What, what is it boy?" Pepper cradled her hurt arm with the other, wincing softly. 

Mallow snatched her up by the front of her pajamas, his teeth grazing her skin. He began to hobble as fast as he could forward, dragging Pepper with him. That's when she heard it. Through the sharp winds and rain hitting the terrain. Through the rumbles of thunder and the panting of her frantic companion. Singing. A song so familiar, and so spine chilling, that it made her feel a different kind of cold as rain drops broke on her skin. 

Dastardos. 

She never knew he was active at night, especially not in such awful weather. Everyone needed to sleep eventually, didn't they? Now, her injured pinata was a homing beacon for his "treatment". Dastardos had claimed more than a few sours from gardens, and Pepper had witnessed it on more than one occasion. He would approach while singing his awful song, a bittersweet warning of events to come. More salt in the wound as he floated over to your pinatas, injured or sick, "miserable" as he put it. The man would stand there for a minute before summoning his pinata stick, and breaking the pinata open. He would then taunt the upset gardener, or Patch if he happened to be there, mocking them for their carelessness. His departure was always quick. 

Mallow stopped suddenly, searching in the brief flash of lightning for something. He seemed to find it, and turned to Pepper. The Mallowolf gave the shivering child an apologetic look before slowly licking the side of her face. Before she could speak, Mallow shoved Pepper to the darkness, causing her to fall and stumble back into the thick forage. He gave her a final glance before rushing ahead, eventually giving up a few feet as he collapsed from the pain. He laid there, whimpering, whining, as the song got louder. Pepper could only listen as it happened, barely able to make out her companions' large shape ahead. No sooner did she reach for him, did she freeze.

Dastardos was near, so close that she could hear his song perfectly. Soft cloth grazed the back of her hand. In the sudden flash of light, Pepper saw him. The masked figure was floating just over her, his scarf snaking over her hand. She yanked her hand back and fell back, landing hard on a twig. It snapped and Dastardos stopped. He looked at her hiding spot before turning attention back to the injured Mallowolf. He floated over, unphased by the raging storm or snarl of the beast before him. 

Mallow bared his fangs at the filthy man, but made no other effort to move. The sour knew what was going to happen, just as it had happened two times before. Dastardos stared down at him, expression hidden by his mask. His ugly mask. Mallow wanted to yank it off of him and crush the wood between his teeth. Drag him to the beach by his scarf and cast him into the sea. Mallow let out a low growl. Dastardos summoned his stick.

Pepper watched in horror as the floating silhouette raised a long narrow object in the air. The other slowly lowered their head, their whimpers softening to nothing she could hear over the rain. A flash of lightning allowed her to see Mallow just as he got smashed open. He was looking at her, his eyes closed just as the stick hit him. A cry escaped her lips as he was destroyed. 

Dastardos turned around so suddenly that it startled her. In the faint light of the Pinatas magic, she could see the stick in his hand disappear. Pepper backed farther into the foliage quickly, a hand over her mouth. Her back hit the base of a tree. Pepper was able to navigate into an opening in the hollow tree, and curled her knees into her chest. Her eyes clenched together tightly as she held her arm. 

_ “He hadn't seen her, he hadn't seen her, he hadn't seen her.” _

Pepper tried to assure herself as the pain began to surge in her arm. It wasn't until it dulled down again that she opened her eyes. Another scream escaped her lips. Floating right in front of her, eerily quiet, was Dastardos. He tilted his head slowly to the left. 

"Well well well….." He reached for his face. Slowly, very slowly, Dastardos removed his ugly red mask to reveal his face. It was heavily scarred, and in places seemed to have formed an odd rash. Black lines swirled and trailed from his right eye all the way to his forehead. His bright green eyes glared down at her as a crazed smirk crossed his face. "What have we here?"

Dastardos knew exactly who this girl was. He saw her sometimes when he went to put pinatas out of their misery. Usually she was with that bumbling buffoon Pester, or that nasty older girl who he had chased away from his home twice now, or that little boy who trampled over small pinatas. Sometimes she was out late at night with her Mallowolf, particularly the one he had just smashed. The rare occasions she was alone, he could easily overlook her. Usually if he stared long enough, she would reveal herself while darting away. When he would happen upon sours that had been attacked by gardeners or lost fights, he would see the girl hurry away at the sight of him in the distance. Her name was unimportant to him, and he found no purpose to know it other than to possibly scare her. Just say her name as he floated towards her, freak her out a little.

"G-Get away from me, s-s-s-st-s-stay back, DON'T HURT ME!" Pepper sobbed out. She tried to back away further, but there weren't many other places for her to go. To her left there was dead trunk, to her right there was dead trunk, behind her was dead trunk, and in front of her was a maskless Dastardos. The man who had just murdered her Mallowolf. The man who seemed to despise her father with such seething rage. The man who was known to smash open injured pinatas. She put her arms up to try and prevent him from getting closer, and let out a cry as another surge of pain travelled through her body from her left arm. "OW!"

The smile left the man's face at once. He stopped hovering and stood on his own two feet. Another flash of lightning helped him see her, and in the microsecond the inside of the tree was illuminated, he saw her arm. It was already swollen and had started bruising. Dastardos stared at her. Pepper stared back, tears in her eyes. He began walking towards her, slowly. His bare feet sinking into the mud with every step. He wished he was still floating, but that was the least of his concerns right now. His biggest fear right now was that he had somehow caused this, he knew the signs of a broken arm anywhere. 

"N-NO, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Pepper became frantic as he approached. Dastardos stopped for a moment, his eyes void of expression as he studied her. Pepper pleaded for him to leave, to abandon her in this dead tree and leave her be. He started moving forward again. In an effort to defend herself, Pepper reeled back her arm. She had seen Poppy do this to anyone who got mouthy with her. A nonverbal threat to punch them. The elbow of her injured arm hit the trunk behind her and Pepper let out a disgustingly loud sob. Dastardos began to sing as Pepper's world turned black. 

~~~~

Pester had a large bed, and most nights it was just his own. The only sour who ever bothered to sleep on it was a Mallowolf he had named "Malicious", and usually the ruffians knew better than to even come into his room. Usually his only nighttime visitors were his children, and even then only Pepper dared to tuck herself under his blankets. Pest kept to the end of the bed with his own blanket, and Poppy simply slapped Pester in the face before walking back out. Pester wasn't an especially light sleeper, he could sleep through almost anything some nights. When he felt movement on his bed, he woke up but didn't open his eyes. They didn't stop at the end of the bed and instead traveled up to his chest. Out of instinct, Pester held his arms open. His darling Pepper, here to have him protect her from this dreadful storm. A minor ego boost that would last him well into tomorrow.

"Where's Pepper?" 

Pester opened his eyes. In the faint light from the hallway, he could make out Pests silhouette. The boys hair was put into two messy buns on the sides of his head, and he held onto a stuffed Sherbat. Pester sat up and rubbed his mask, closing his eyes and mumbling about this being a dream. 

"Father, is Pepper in here?" Pest leaned over and turned on the lamp. Pester swore incoherently as he buried his face in his hands. The boy began crawling around the bed, calling for his sister in a hushed shout. "Pep? Pepper? Peeeeepper?"

"She's not in here you pest, she's in her bed still." Pester watched the boy through narrowed eyes. 

"No she's not, I checked, and I checked Poppy's room too." He pointed to something behind Pester. The man turned and immediately got smacked by a pissed off Poppy. 

"YOU INSUFFERABLE LITTLE BRA- Pepper wasn't in bed?" Pester held his face with his hand. 

Poppy folded her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes and raising an eyebrow. "No dip, pixie stick. She isn't here, I checked all over the lair, even the Mud Room."

"What about Mallow?" Pester started to get out of bed, pushing past the teen. Poppy raised her hand to slap him again, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. He walked out the room, throwing on his hat as he passed its hanger near his door. "MALLOW?"

No scratching of claws on the stone floor, or soft bark of the carnivorous pinata. 

"PEPPER?"

No whimpering of a scared little girl, or items shuffling in the dark. 

Pester hurried to the study, where Pepper usually hid during storms. There was an old chest in there that she could fit in with a pillow and her favorite blanket. A few times now he had been plotting when she popped out and scared him by accident. Sometimes while he was working, she'd just come in and sit in it during the day, fall asleep listening to him talk. The old wooden chest was near the bookshelf, not that far from the door. He crept over to it and knocked on it twice before opening the lid. 

Empty.

Poppy stormed to the lair's main room. There was the stupid professor's arm chair, with it's stupid black patches and creaky springs. The ugly scrap yarn blanket hanging over the back of it, smelling strongly of burnt candy. The crinkly pillow, filled with plastic. If the travel to his room was too scary, Poppy used to curl up in his chair with that old blanket and cushion. She had been younger then, before the school. Sometimes, when Pester stayed out late, Pepper would go here for safety. Poppy kicked the side of the chair. "Hey punk, you here?" 

There was no response.

Pest scurried back to their shared bedroom, Batilda close behind as he threw open the closet door. The twins had made their closet a secret hideout within the first week of living in the lair. When things got too hard, or father was too loud, or Ruffians too rowdy, they could close the closet door and live in their own world for a little bit. No ruffians could disturb them, no scary man to haunt them, no Pester to order them around, just blankets and pillows to keep out the bad times. Now, only the pillows and blankets occupied the small space. Not a Pepper in sight.

Pester stood in the main room with Poppy, and a look of worry crossed his face when Pest ran to him. Pepper, she was missing. She had to have Mallow with her, that was the only good thing about any of this situation. He was positive she had the Mallowolf with her. Even in this storm, if anything went wrong, Mallow could protect her. 

"Who got hi-Mallow?" Poppy pointed to the light dancing in through the window. A shattered pinatas magic, returning to its origin. The Mallowolf reassembled itself before their eyes, then let out a haunting howl. The song was done in mourning, and responded to by the strong winds outside. The pinata laid down. To return to life always exhausted them.

"Poppy, stay here with Pest." Pester hurried out the main room barking orders. For once, neither child argued.

~~~~

The air had a ginger crisp to it, burning Peppers nose with the scent of herbs. Herbs so strong they sent her into a coughing fit as she awoke from her unwanted slumber. She sat up abruptly, allowing the cold rag on her head to fall into her lap. Or at least where her lap would have been if she wasn't covered by a blanket. Pepper could only describe the blanket as a bunch of potato sacks stitched together to form an odd sort of quilt. It made exposed patches of her skin itch, but she wasn't able to scratch them. Her left arm was tightly bound to her chest and secured by tough rags, impossible for her to move. 

In the warm lighting, she could see where the smell of ginger came from. Someone had strung some from the ceiling like a decoration to dry. Every surface around her had at least three herbs in glass jars on it. The closest jar had a thick pale paste inside, along with a stick of cinnamon. The large room was messy to say the least, but perhaps in that weird organized chaos sort of way. Books were on cluttered shelves, but on the shelves. Jars weren't all over the floor, but instead on one side of the room on the table or floor. The walls were covered in random carvings and scribbles, some nearly looked like words. Not quite though, at least not words she could understand. Posters barely hung to the wall, held by tacks and bits of tape. A shelf full of candles, most of them lit, was across the room. Medicine bottles, some empty and some not quite, littered the room like confetti. The one closest to her appeared to be unopened.

Pepper started to push the quilt off to get out the bed. No sooner had she lowered a foot did she hear the infamous singing. It was getting closer, oddly close. Her heart dropped as a terrible thought crossed her mind. Of all the places she could have wound up, she was in the house of Dastardos. Pepper hurried back into the bed, covering herself with the blanket. Drat, she should have hidden under it. Maybe there was still some ti-. No, even with her eyes closed she could tell it was too late. The girl laid perfectly still as the man came inside.

Dastardos hung up his mask before looking over at the cot. He knew right away that she had been awake. For one, she was shaking like a leaf. Second, the rag he’d put on her forehead was moved. So she wasn't dead, what a relief. He'd take her home the second the storm was over, tomorrow morning if he had to. The faster one of Pester's problems was out of his life, the better. He had had half the mind to abandon her in the tree, but to do that to a child? Heartless. The man had to admit, he felt a smidge bad for hitting her pinata. For all he knew, it was the only thing keeping her safe out there. Easy Come, Easy Go, he shrugged off the notion as he approached the bed. He inspected the wrapping to ensure she hadn't messed it up. 

Her breathing became shaky and Dastardos rolled his eyes. "Hmmmm….Appears she's dead, best be buryin' her."

Pepper's eyes shot open and she swung at him. Dastardos simply moved out of the way before pinning her good hand behind her back. He didn't know why he had even spoken. It would have been easier to just leave her be and hope she went out to the storm while he slept. He imagined she knew her way home by now, maybe not from here, but still her way home. Was it pride? The need to instill some sort of power over her? Annoyance even, at how she was acting? This was just a child, a stupid child it seemed, but still a child. He watched, amused as she began to struggle to free herself.

"Let me go, PLEASE!" Pepper begged.

"Why, so you could try and hit me again?" Dastardos moved into a more comfortable position, refusing to unpin her arm. He was greatly entertained by this. 

"You were gonna hit me, you're gonna smash me open like a pinata!" Pepper exclaimed. She nearly screamed when she realized how close he was now. That was at least two feet away, right? Too close for comfort. 

"Me, smash you open?" Dastardos laughed, revealing his teeth to her in the process. Yellowed, except for his two fangs which were suspiciously white. "What gives you that idea?"

"Because you hate my dad, and you smash open injured pinatas all the time! You're always singing that scary song a-and- and!"

"Your father is a bastard, and you're not a pinata. There's no point in smashing a human, nothing in them worth while, especially not that bastards kin." Dastardos scowled at that last part, barely keeping in a gag. 

"I think  _ you're _ a bastard." Pepper said in a voice below a whisper. She didn't know what a bastard was, but she knew it was a bad word, and if Dastardos was calling her father one it wouldn't be nice. That may have been the wrong thing to do, as Dastardos gave her a rather scary look. "I'm sorry-" The child squeaked out. The grip on her arm started to tighten, but quickly loosened. 

"I'd expect as much from the likes of you." Dastardos let her go, standing back up. He stared down at the child, his face stoic. "Rude, ungrateful, vile little thing. Afraid to face the consequences of your actions, just like your father." 

"What did my daddy even do to you?" 

"He ruined my life, made me like  _ this. _ " The man gestured to himself. The child tilted their head slightly. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you, brag about it even."

"H-He….He made you look like that?" Pepper crinkled her nose. Not one part of Dastardos was pretty. All of him looked a bit off, right down to his mask. She could imagine the ways her father did any of that, be it a scheme gone wrong or a straight up brawl. "W-What did he do?"

"Jealousy, sour candy…..Betrayal." Dastardos began to chant those words over and over again as he moved around the room. He blew out the remaining candles and started covering them. He began to stand books up right on the shelves, any task just to avoid looking at that pathetic child. 

Pepper sat in silence, flinching when a particularly loud rumble of thunder shook the large tree. Her arm hurt at that, and Pepper stared down at the splint. "......D-Did you do this?" 

Dastardos glanced over at her. The child had gotten off the cot and was inspecting her arm. Honestly he hadn't been able to ask how it happened, personally he didn't really care. Surely he had cleared his sins and made amends. Still, he was perhaps the tiniest bit curious about what she had been doing in the storm at this hour of night. Not a Pester in sight, yet the little girl had been out and about like she owned the time. "Well you sure didn't do it, did you?"

"Well no, but um, but uh, I didn't know you were…...a doctor." Pepper stayed close to the bed, rubbing her face. 

"My hobbies are none of your concern, brat. What's your concern is how that happened." He floated closer, and Pepper immediately tried to back away. The man landed back on his feet. "No fun to scare you, really."

"Are you trying to make me cry, because it will work!" Pepper wiped her face again.

"Trying to learn how that arm of yours wound up broken."

"I fell off Mallow." The little girl began to fidget with her mask at the mention of the sour pinata. How long had it been since Dastardos had smashed him open? Probably hours now. She didn't have an exact number, but the girl just knew she had been out a lot longer than she hoped.

"Why were you on  _ Mallow _ at this time of night? Causing trouble I bet." Dastardos walked closer to get the jar with the cinnamon stick. Pepper stood very still, even when he held the concoction out to her. When she didn't take it, he half shrugged and took it for himself. "Sneaky little one, you are. Always hiding and running about. Thought it was you in the bushes, planning on doing something to me, were you?"

"I-I….I was in my garden." Pepper said firmly. "I didn't even want you to come, but Mallow tripped and we fell and he got hur-!"

"In your garden?" Dastardos cut her off as he chewed on the spice stick. It crunched loudly and the girl flinched. He doubted Pester wanted much to do with a garden, especially after the incident with Jardiniero. He could only hack at what awful things could be taking place in the garden of any of  _ his _ children. "Full of weeds I bet, weeds and junk and sand- I bet you love sand!"

"............What's Sand?" Pepper whispered softly. She shook her head quickly, trying to lose the stupid thought. That wasn't important right now, focus Pepper focus! "My garden's a beautiful place, with flowers, and trees, and pinatas, and….AND…...I don't get to see it during the day. My daddy doesn't like it very much. I only get to see it at night."

"Sounds like a personal problem, you don't have my pity." Crunch.

"I don't even know what that  _ is. _ " 

"What, what is?" 

"Pity." 

"........How old even are you?" Dastardos finished the stick and put the rest of the jar on another table. 

".........How old are  _ you _ ?"

He hit the table with a fist.

"Six."

"You've barely seen the world in your few years." He looked her up and down. "No wonder you're so small."

"Then you must be ten." Pepper sat back down on the bed. She pushed all the makeshift blankets away from her.

"Ten?" Dastardos rubbed his chin slowly. Such an odd choice, he was very far from being ten. He hadn't been ten in decades. "Why must I be ten?"

"Because you're small."

Dastardos just stared at her. He stared in silence for such a long time, that she started to shift around uncomfortably. Slowly, very slowly, his eyebrows furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, a finger pointed at her, but it quickly shut without a word. He just pointed at her. Finally he found the words."I'm taller than you-" 

"You're not taller than my daddy." 

".......I should have left you out in the damn rain."

"But you didn't."

It was quiet between them until a particularly loud rumble of thunder. Pepper jumped slightly then winced when her arm moved. This would take some getting used to. She went and sat back on the bed, staring at him. Dastardos kept at his busy work, making the room neat so it could get messy again at some later time. The only reason he could even think to talk to Pepper was because she seemed to have a staring problem, and it was getting to be a bit awkward. 

"What's your name?" Dastardos sighed as he picked up a discarded pinata stick. It had been so unimportant before, but the curiosity had gnawed at him long enough. He knew the oldest was Poppy from years ago, but after her strange disappearance she began going by Pop. The boy was Pest, he knew that because the boy had introduced himself twice while they happened to be in the same garden. This little girl, she was a tricky one. Might as well put a name to her mask. 

"P-Pepper. " Pepper didn't know why she told him that, but honestly what more did she have to lose right now? Not exactly anywhere to run, and he'd probably just keep on pestering her about it. "My name is Pepper."

"He named you after a vegetable?" 

".............…….." The silence that followed said more than Pepper ever could. The girl began to play with her hair with her good hand. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." 

"Why do you smash the pinatas?"

"Hmmmm?" He moved closer to the bed. He noticed that Pepper didn't flinch this time, or try to back away. Either she had gotten used to him, or he no longer scared her. He hoped it less the first one, he'd miss scaring her in no time. "That's a hard question to understand, I'm not sure you would."

"Is it because you hate them?"

"No no, I don't hate pinatas…" Dastardos started floating again. Not very high, but just enough that his feet weren't touching the floor. "Just hate them suffering, hate that blubbering idiot of a doctor…..Did you know  _ I _ wanted to be a doctor?"

"Ummm….No?"

"Well I did!" Dastardos threw his hands in the air and Pepper flinched. She covered herself with the blanket, and he rolled his eyes. He floated away from the bed. "But I can't now, and it's all your father's fault. There are many reasons why I can't do that now, the compassion and heart for it's gone."

".....That doesn't really answer my question, honestly it kinda makes you look…..worse." She didn't know what compassion meant, or how this was her father's fault, but she didn't want to ask him those things. 

"I don't want them to suffer."

"Then why not heal them yourself, pay for the doctor?" Pepper let the blanket fall back on her body. She rubbed her eyes. 

"I'm already scraping to get by, I don't need more on my plate. Besides, it's the circle of life. I'm doing a good job to make sure these pinatas don't have to suffer at the misdeeds of a poor gardener!" He glanced over at her. The little thing was yawning and honestly struggling to stay awake. Come to think of it, his third rest of the night was coming up soon. Never a clear sleep schedule, Dastardos was desperate to at least attempt to have periods of slumber at night. "Lay down, you're talking too much."

Obedient, Pepper laid down. She didn't much care for the blanket, but she was still wet from the rain and cold, so better covered than not. The girl kept her long blinking eyes on the floating man as he began tying ropes higher up in the room. "You should….see my garden….It's nice….."

"That's enough, go to sleep." The next time Dastardos looked down, the girl was out like a light. Outside, he could hear the storm dying down. He finished setting up his hammock and went to sleep himself.

~~~~

Pepper was used to waking up to a cold nose in her face. Mallow never liked to be kept waiting for his morning praises. He'd sit on her bed and she'd pull burrs out his papery fur while complimenting his glorious form. The second something cold touched her she sat up. "Up early today Mallow?" Pepper didn't hear so much as a Sparrowmint as she sat there adjusting her mask. 

"I'm  _ not  _ Mallow."

Peppers eyes flew open. They glanced around wildly at this unfamiliar environment, then landed on the man beside her bed. There, standing up, was Dastardos. He clutched a pinata stick in his hand, the metal tip threatening to poke her again should he seem it necessary. It took a minute for her to process what had happened, but the girl recalled the events of last night. Last night. LAST NIGHT.

"What time is it?" Pepper began hurrying off the bed, startling Dastardos. She didn't care right now, now she had to get home. She had to go home before anyone realized she was gone! If Pester found out that she had got out, especially in this storm, he'd have her mounted on the wall like a Moojoo head! "I have to go home, I have to get home!"

Dastardos watched, greatly amused by the frantic child's rambling about home. He pulled his scarf up so she wouldn't trample it. The girl didn't even notice. He tried to stop her, slow her down at least, but the child was feisty. Without meaning to, she evaded his grip. Pepper hurried for the door. She pulled a seed out her pocket, inspected it, then dropped it on the floor. "For helping me, thank you!"

  
  


Dastardos hadn't expected any of that. It had all happened so fast, he barely had time to comprehend. It wasn't until the child was outside that he realized what exactly she had left on his floor. There, bouncing on the dirt, was a simple daisy seed. Dastardos picked it up carefully before pushing back his shredded curtains. For a split second, he saw her before she disappeared into the brush. His eyes trailed down to the yellow and white seed.  _ 'Pepper, her name is Pepper.' _

Pepper couldn't remember the last time she had been out during a sunrise. Maybe it had been two months ago, when Pester had woken the twins up early for a scheme. She couldn't quite remember the plan or her role in it, but she recalled that Pest has been extremely irritable that day. Still, as she ran through long grass and over damaged earth, the girl couldn't help but admire the changing of the sky. Were she not in such a bad situation, she may have even stopped to enjoy it. Her feet practically flew over the earth as she approached her destination. 

The girl had barely taken two steps onto the wood when someone yanked her up from behind. 

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Pop held her by the back of her cardigan, releasing only when she noticed the cast. 

"M-Mallow had to go out, I followed a-a-a!" Pepper hit the ground, luckily not onto the injured side. 

"Oh you're dead, you're deader than dead. Old mans been on the  _ warpath _ ." Pop taunted as she began pushing Pepper up the plank. As if to confirm it, there was a loud shout from inside the lair. Pepper gulped. This was going to be a long day.

~~~~

Three weeks went by before Peppers arm healed and she was able to sneak out again.. Pester had really gotten on her case after her night out. Pepper's lie had been convincing, and she hadn't completely lied about her encounter with a strange man, so Pester's punishment hadn't been too harsh. On Trio duty for a week, Mallow was banned from sleeping in the bedroom, and no tv. Small prices to pay for something so dear to her. Not to mention that Mallow had the nights to himself now. She'd often see her canine companion in the distance from her window as she drifted to sleep.

The night was clear, and Pepper was the last person awake. She was grateful for the weather, not a storm cloud in the sky. No fear of a storm tonight. That also meant there was no need for Mallow tonight, and the pinata slept away in the bathroom. She crept out the bedroom and down the hall by herself, Caesar let her cross for a yellow candy, and she traveled alone by the light of the full moon. There, past the field of trash, was the path to her garden. 

Her garden had seen better days, but at least nothing was dead this time. Once she had forgotten to water a small orchard she'd wanted, and came back to a bunch of dead trees. Those had taken ages to clean up. Trees were a lot of work, and she didn't want to make the same mistakes again. Pepper took two steps in before she realized something had changed. There, just outside her carefully placed fence, was a thistle, right next to a daisy. At first, she was confused. Had a curious fudgehog come for a snack and caused a stray seed to land outside the fence? A bit of a stretch, and it didn't quite explain the daisy. Could daisies naturally sprout multiple heads? You'd have to fertilize it for that, definitely. 

"A decent place."

Peppers scream was loud, but short. She whirled around so fast that her ponytail hit her in the face. While she spat out stray hair, Dastardos surveyed the area with a hidden expression. His mask was back on, and Pepper found herself greatly unnerved by it. At least in the tree, she could see how he was feeling. This? This somehow felt a lot scarier. At least he didn't have his stick in hand. 

"Again with being scared. Dare I say, my feelings are….. _ hurt." _

"Were you following m-You put the thistle in my garden!" Pepper pointed. 

"You left a daisy at my door. Such a common flower." Dastardos went over and plucked one of the heads. 

"How did you find my garden?" Pepper began walking towards a patch of buttercup.

"Mallow, he comes here pretty often. In between checkups, I was able to follow him." Dastardos pulled up a portion of his mask to reveal his face. He was smiling, but it was an odd smile. It almost seemed a bit forced, but somehow so natural on his face. "I can't wait until you have pinatas here for a  _ checkup _ ."

The way he said checkups sent a chill down Pepper's spine. Still, she offered the masked man the shakiest of smiles. She turned to pull up a carrot, by the time she turned back around, the orange vegetable in hand, he was gone, and Pepper was all alone. She was fine with that. Pepper liked to be alone.


End file.
